The Grandmother in the Siheyuan

Chapter 333 Major Projects

Liu Hua pondered for three days, then clapped his hands and exclaimed, "We're always just doing small-scale things. When will we ever amount to anything? This time, we're going to do something big!"

So Liu Hua set his sights on a behemoth: an LNG carrier. These things were absolutely enormous, with the smaller ones weighing tens of thousands of tons and the larger ones reaching hundreds of thousands of tons.

Mastering this technology would be a huge boost to our country's shipbuilding industry.

However, such a large project is definitely a national project, and it is not something that a small collective enterprise like Liu Hua's could handle.

So Liu Hua wrote a plan that detailed the future development trend and necessity of LNG. With the plan in hand, Liu Hua went to the office of the leader of the Ministry of Industry.

The leader watched as Liu Hua sneaked into his office, then sat on the opposite sofa for a long time without saying a word, seemingly wanting to speak but holding back.

The leader remained silent, head bowed as he reviewed documents, occasionally glancing up at him. The two began a contest of inner strength, with whoever spoke first losing.

The secretary brought in a cup of tea from outside and whispered to Liu Hua, "Engineer Liu, you need to hurry up today. The boss is particularly busy today and has a meeting later."

"That's it, this is too big of a deal for me, I can't explain it clearly without enough time."

Liu Hua spoke first, and the leader, without even looking up, said, "I asked you to help me with a big project, are you trying to put me in a difficult position?"

"How could I dare?"

The leader coughed and said, "Make a long story short. Tell me what big project you're planning to undertake. I want to see if you're going to put me on the defensive or lend me a hand."

"I think we should build a hydroelectric power station."

"The Three Gorges Dam, right? We've already been discussing that."

Liu Hua shook his head: "The Yangtze River is our golden waterway. Building a Three Gorges Dam might affect the economic development of the middle and upper reaches. I suggest building a hydroelectric power station directly in Motuo in the upper reaches."

The leader shook his head: "This is just Mr. Huang repeating the same old tune, which is not good for our international image."

“Internationally, it’s all about interests,” Liu Hua said with a smile. “Even if we don’t build it now, we will in the future. Once it’s built, the Indians will know what it means for the friendship between China and India to be unbreakable, and even China can’t destroy it.”

"Nonsense, who would dare to make any rash moves if they had a lightning bolt over their head?" the leader said irritably. "You're not here to put me on the spot, you're here to joke with me."

“If we don’t build the Medog Hydropower Station, let’s do something else,” Liu Hua said with a smile. “We can build a canal and divert water directly from the upper reaches of the Yarlung Tsangpo River to Xinjiang, creating another Jiangnan-like landscape in the north.”

The secretary looked at Liu Hua and said helplessly, "Engineer Liu, time is really tight, so please stop joking. Besides, this is the Ministry of Industry. Building hydroelectric power stations and canals is not within the scope of our Ministry of Industry's business."

Liu Hua smiled and took out his technical book: "The boss just had a contest of internal strength with me, and I lost. He won't even let me make a joke to ease the awkwardness."

"How old are you?" the leader said, half-laughing and half-crying. "What kind of nonsense is this plan you've written? If it keeps going off the rails, I'm not going to be polite to you."

"The shipbuilding industry has three industrial gems: aircraft carriers, LNG carriers, and cruise ships," Liu Hua said with a smile. "Aircraft carriers fall under the military industry, and even if we could afford to build them now, we wouldn't be able to afford to use them. As for cruise ships, that's the third industry, and our economic development hasn't reached that level yet, so we don't need them for the time being."

The leader nodded: "So your target is LNG carriers?" Liu Hua smiled and said: "Leader, let's launch a major campaign!"

"What a joke! A major campaign is not something you can just do carelessly. The engineering projects developed from each major campaign are all national treasures."

Liu Hua countered, "Aren't LNG carriers crucial national assets? The use of natural gas will become increasingly widespread in the future. The West isn't environmentalist now, but sooner or later they will push this onto our side and use it to constrain us. In order to conserve energy and reduce emissions, the use of coal will be further reduced, while the application of natural gas will be further increased, and global natural gas freight will see significant development."

Liu Hua said with a smile, "A natural gas carrier costs a fortune. If we can master the shipbuilding technology of LNG carriers, it will be a significant step forward for my country's shipbuilding industry."

"It's certainly tempting, but there are quite a few challenges as well."

Liu Hua patted his chest: "I can guarantee that I will research the materials and power systems needed for shipbuilding."

Seeing the leader's eager expression, Liu Hua continued, "Leader, imagine how cheap our labor and raw materials are. Once we master LNG shipbuilding technology, all the world's orders will have to come to us. What a stimulus that would be to the economy!"

"You get the raw materials and power unit?"

Liu Hua nodded: "A gentleman's word is as good as his bond."

The leader slammed his fist on the table: "I'm going all in. There's a meeting this afternoon to discuss future development, and I'll put this matter on the table for discussion. I absolutely support you."

Liu Hua handed the plan to his secretary: "Make several copies so that all the leaders can see them. I'm sure they'll be interested."

Although photocopiers are expensive, they are now widely used in ministries and commissions, and they are sold domestically, especially to government departments, at cost price.

Moreover, the widespread use of photocopiers saved many paper mills.

The secretary took the proposal: "Engineer Liu, only you would dare to haggle like this in the leader's office. A couple of days ago, Director Yang of the steel rolling mill also tried to haggle, and he got a real dressing down from the leader."

"What's wrong with him?"

The leader said to his secretary, "Liu Hua used to be the chief engineer of the steel rolling mill. Go out and tell him about the current situation of the steel rolling mill."

The secretary led Liu Hua to his office and sighed, saying, "Old Yang is a bit unambitious these days. The best steel rolling equipment in the country is in his factory, and his business has been shrinking more and more in the past two years."

Liu Hua smiled and said nothing. The secretary continued, "They even tried to find excuses for the leaders, saying that private enterprises have risen in recent years, and many township enterprises are also doing steel rolling business, and their prices are cheaper, which is why their steel rolling mill's business volume has begun to shrink."

“In terms of cost, he should have the advantage.” Liu Hua shook his head: “The larger the output, the lower the cost can be spread, and the lower the price should be more competitive in the market. How did he do it?”

"What can I say?" The secretary shook his head. "This man is an old comrade. He should be retiring in a couple of years. I don't know if he's just unambitious or if he's just inflexible."

"When we really need to produce LNG carriers, we will need a lot of rolled steel, and we will need to use the steel from Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill. We need to solve this problem as soon as possible."

(End of this chapter)